(4527 reads)    Printer Friendly Page

by Henry B. Hoff, C.G., F.A.S.G., F.G.B.S.

Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Summer 1996

As anyone who has worked on colonial New York or New Jersey families can tell you, researching families whose baptisms, marriages and burials occur in Dutch Reformed Church records can be quite rewarding. The surviving registers of these churches are frequently available in print and the available overall indexes to these registers include the International Genealogical Index (IGI); Wilson Ledley, comp. Index to Baptismal Surnames [in 16 Reformed Churches], Holland Society of New York, 1990 [N.Y. G 12.15]; and Marriage Index: Selected Areas of New York, 1639-1916, from Kinship, CD-ROM (Family Tree Maker's Family Archives, 1996). The genealogical information given in the registers is often sufficient in itself to assemble a skeleton pedigree, because of the following helpful Dutch customs:

1. A couple was betrothed in the Dutch Reformed Church and then married after three banns had been read. The betrothal and/or marriage record ordinarily gives marital status and place of origin (which is usually place of birth). After 1664 a marriage license could be obtained in lieu of banns.
2. A woman normally continued to use her maiden name after marriage.
3. The first two children of each sex were often (but not always) named for the four grandparents.
4. Children were baptized shortly after birth and usually had relatives as godparents.
5. Even into the 19th century, patronymics and patronymic initials were still being used.

For an overall view of Dutch naming patterns and the use of patronymics vs. surnames, see Rosalie Fellows Bailey, Dutch Systems in Family Naming: New York-New Jersey (National Genealogical Society Special Publications, No. 12, 1954) [CS42 N4 Spec.Publ.], and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, "New Netherland Naming Systems and Customs," Record 126:35-45. Because New Netherland was such a melting pot, a family in Dutch Reformed Church records might actually have no Dutch ancestry and yet be culturally, linguistically and politically Dutch and be referred to as Dutch.

Besides being traceable in New Netherland and New York, clues to the European origins of these families are abundant. Place of origin was sometimes added to a person's name and so even just one occurrence of a name in New Netherland records may provide the clue. Marriage records are the most common source for this information, as they usually include place of origin. Other sources which may provide the desired clue include church membership records and notarial papers. Gwenn F. Epperson's New Netherland Roots (Baltimore, 1994) [N.Y. G 55.41] provides a useful basic guide to developing these clues. The Record continues to publish articles each year on the origins of New Netherland settlers from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and England. [No articles have used Scandinavian records yet.]   

As with many areas of genealogical research, the first step in researching a New York Dutch family should usually be to determine what has already been compiled on the family and what you can glean from readily-available published primary sources.

The principal aids for finding what has been compiled are library catalogs and the three key indexes of national scope that have been mentioned numerous times in this Newsletter (e.g. 6:29): Periodical Source Index [PERSI], Genealogical Periodical Annual Index, and Jacobus' Index to Genealogical Periodicals. See also Meredith B. Colket, Jr., Founders of Early American Families, revised edition, 1985 [CS42.15 C64]. By the end of 1996 another important finding aid for researching New York Dutch families should be published, namely, an every-name and subject index to this Newsletter for 1990-1995.

The following genealogical periodicals are particularly important for this research, both for compiled genealogies and for primary source material, and most have been (or will be) analyzed in this Newsletter for New York content and indexes, as noted below:

The every-name and subject index to this Newsletter will be a useful shortcut to using these periodicals for researching New York Dutch families, although the careful researcher will also want to review the periodicals' own indexes.   

In the Newsletter at 4:11 is a composite index to the New York families covered in 19 multifamily works (mostly all-my-ancestors), and at 4:21 is an index to all the families covered in Herbert F. Seversmith, Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut, 5 vols. 1939-58. Many of these are Dutch families. There are numerous other all-my-ancestors works with accounts of New York Dutch families; these accounts may be discovered via:

Make sure to look for compiled accounts of allied families as well as ancestral families.    

Another source for compiled accounts of New York Dutch families are geographic multifamily works for historically Dutch areas of New York State. Given below is a list of those I have found particularly useful, though frequently not authoritative:

As for published primary sources, there are several that I find essential for researching New York Dutch families on a statewide basis; these are listed below:

For an up-to-date expanded list (including New York City primary sources), see the syllabus for Harry Macy's talk F-4 at the NEHGS-NYG&B Soc. Joint Conference at Tarrytown, 17-18 November 1995 [CS2 N43 T37].

Careful reading of articles in the Record, the Newsletter and elsewhere is often the best way to make progress on a New York Dutch problem, because articles often contain:

Make sure to look for additions and corrections to articles. For the Record, these are in the October issue each year. And if you make an exciting discovery, don't keep it to yourself. Let others who are interested know, and even consider contacting one of the Editors regarding publication in the Record or the Newsletter!